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If we are to recover from the great recession it is going to happen very slowly – but new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders reveals that we are going in the right direction.

It found that gross mortgage lending in February increased to an estimated £9.2bn, a 6% rise from £8.7bn in January. It says the market jumped thanks to low mortgage figures at the very start of the year after the Government's stamp duty break ended.

And while lending in February was down 6% on the £9.7bn recorded a year ago, the CML says the first two months of this year are broadly in line with its forecast for lending of £150bn for 2010, which would be a slowly steady improvement on mortgage lending in 2009.

Paul Samter, economist at the CML says: "As we look forward, we expect emerging signs of improvement as confidence in the economy grows and we move past the election. But with activity unlikely to pick up much in the short term, we would expect to see further modest volatility in the coming months."

Slight increases in mortgage lending is always a good sign for those looking to move onwards and upwards on the housing ladder. It means lenders are happier to lend, it means more borrowers are able to afford mortgages and it means your attempts to get hold of mortgage finance might be a little more successful – but talk to a mortgage broker about exactly how successful your endeavours may be.

SOURCE: CML, 18/03/10

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